The competition to portray the legendary Richard Pryor in an upcoming biopic has just undergone another plot twist.
Originally slammed by the Pryor family in his quests to win the coveted role, Nick Cannon has managed to change the mind of at least one of Pryor’s kids.
Richard Pryor Jr. has reconsidered his previous stance and now says he is “impressed” by Cannon’s drive to play his father. Pryor Jr. tells the Daily Mail he originally didn’t think Cannon had the chops to bring dignity to the role, but the actor did a few things to make him think twice: “He did the small thing of using his left hand instead of his right hand, he picked up smoking to try and emulate my dad, he’s let his hair grow out. He’s looking into who my dad really was, looking into his childhood, who he was raised by and around, and he is interested in talking to me about who my dad was.”
Though Cannon has won over Richard Pryor Jr., he still has an uphill battle to face if he hopes to be cast. Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor has some say in the matter and she’s made no secret that favors Terrence Howard for the role.
Of course, in addition to Cannon and Howard, Mike Epps, Marlon Wayans and “Saturday Night Live’s” Jay Pharoah are all vying for the role as well. It appears as though we may not know who will emerge victorious in this showdown for awhile.
Stay tuned, folks.
